KUCHING: Police should not be burdened with an additional responsibility of having to check the dress code of complainants coming forward to lodge reports.
It is enough that they are here to serve and protect the public, said Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) Women chief Kho Teck Wan.
She said the dress code requirement should in fact be done away with at all police stations in the country, regardless of what kind of cases or reports the public wants to lodge.
She was responding to the Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani’s statement that the dress code at the police station can be relaxed based on the type of emergency faced by the complainant.
He said this after a woman was denied entry into the Kajang district police headquarters (IPD) to lodge a report following a car accident because of her attire, the news of which hogged the limelight for a few days.
Kho questioned if this meant all police officers will now have to check the dress code and the severity of a complaint or case before allowing someone to proceed to lodge a report at a police station.
“This is not only making things difficult for the public who wants to lodge a report, but also burdens the police officers at the station,” she said in a statement Tuesday.
Over the years, she said, there had been incidents where the public were denied entry into certain government buildings or premises due to dress code violation.
In most cases, she opined that the issues were blown out of proportion.
“I do agree in general that proper attire is required when entering government buildings for official duties and functions. However, dress code shouldn’t be applied to service counters and stations that handle complaints and emergency cases such as the police station, fire departments and clinics,” she said.
Thus, Kho has urged lawmakers to revise the dress code requirement at government buildings and premises that serve the public on a daily basis, especially during emergencies.
The civil service, she said, should focus on addressing the people’s problems effectively instead of dress code issues.
